Haze: People in Malacca limit outdoor activities

MALACCA: The people of Malacca have started to limit their outdoor activities, taking precautionary measures following the haze that has hit Malacca City which has recorded very unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings today.

A check by Bernama found that most of the residents had reduced their outdoor activities while several events involving the government agencies and private sectors had been cancelled due to the worsening haze.

The haze had also forced an assistant engineer at a government department, Norelinatasya Ramli, 32 from Umbai to cancel her recreational activities with her family at Malacca City and the hot weather is causing her cough to become worse.

She added the current situation also caused her to suffer from watery eyes, dry throat irritation and sometimes feeling dizzy when outdoors.

“Whenever I go outdoors to dry clothes, I cannot stay a long time. What I am very worried about is the health of my five-year-old son as he is still small if the haze continues,” she said when met by Bernama here today.

According to the Malaysia Air Pollutant Index Management System (Apims) portal today, the API readings in Malacca City had risen towards very unhealthy air quality from 203 as of 7am to 222 as of noon.

A secretary in a government department, Nor Najmin Mohd Azhar, 32 said the haze situation has impacted on her family vacation since there is a need to reduce outdoor activities.

“We plan to visit around Bandar Hilir today, but we managed to visit a few tourist spots and spend the rest of our time in a nearby shopping mall. Some of our planned activities would be interrupted, but it is beyond our control.

“I do not want to jeopardize the health of my family members, we choose to do indoor activities and make sure my family members wear face masks when they are outdoors,” she added.

On the same note with Nor Najmin, the 34-year-old media practitioner Nor Farhana Yaakob said the worsening haze made it difficult for her health as she has asthma.

She added that over the past few days the smoke haze around her residential area had caused her to suffer from asthma attacks in the night, and had difficulty in breathing in the wee hours.

“In the morning, when feeling very tired and difficult to breathe, then we can use the inhaler, but at night, asthma attack comes without us realising.

“What I can do is to drink enough water daily, wear a face mask and also will stay inside the house if I don’t have any important business,” she said. — Bernama